OECD Broadband Statistics to December 2006
http://www.oecd.org/sti/ict/broadbandOECD Communications Outlook 2007
https://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3343,en_17642234_17642806_38876369_1_1_1_1,00.htmlWeb censorship is failing, says Chinese official
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2086419.eceau: Mobile scheme failing teens
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22094068-16123,00.htmlGoogle cookies will 'auto delete' after 2 years
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6901946.stmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559746220.htmlau: Vanishing up each other's google by Alan Kohler
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559788867.htmlau: All eyes on ACCC
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22084061-15306,00.htmlau: Electronic voting to debut this election
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;33270907;fp;2;fpid;1au: Low on speed,
high on cost
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22079412-16123,00.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559780884.htmlAustralian broadband among world's worst: OECD
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Australian-broadband-among-world-s-worst-OECD/0,130061791,339280104,00.htmau: Upload surge increases net costs
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22084033-15306,00.htmlnz: Teacher who posted
porn photos not teaching now - Maharey
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10452408TVs and computers breeding generation of 'screen kids'
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2127268,00.htmlHow we've become hooked on the net
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/16/1184559704099.htmlBlackmail claim stirs fears over Facebook
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2127273,00.htmlSophos names and shames the top spam relaying countries
http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1529124582;fp;2;fpid;1http://sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/07/dirtydozjul07.htmlConfessions of a former spammer
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/18/Former-spammer_1.htmlEU File Sharers Protected in Civil Cases
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559896428.htmluk: Back in the groove: young music fans ditch downloads and spark vinyl revival
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2127350,00.htmlThe full, final "Harry Potter" -- leaked online!
http://www.salon.com/tech/machinist/blog/2007/07/17/potter_leaked/index.htmlNZ's wealthy telcos stingy on investment
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10452483http://stuff.co.nz/4132421a13.htmlEU backs standard for mobile TV
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6902541.stm**********************
RESEARCH
PAPERS
**********************
OECD Broadband Statistics to December 2006
Over the past year, the number of broadband subscribers in the OECD increased 26% from 157 million in December 2005 to 197 million in December 2006. This growth increased broadband penetration rates in the OECD from 13.5 in December 2005 to 16.9 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants one year later.
http://www.oecd.org/sti/ict/broadbandOECD Communications Outlook 2007
The OECD Communications Outlook 2007 presents the most recent comparable data on communication sector performance and provides information on policy frameworks in OECD countries. The report also provides detailed time series data of up to 10 years for a number of key indicators. In addition, for the first time, the 2007 edition includes analysis of the communication sector in five large non-OECD countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa. The report is in pdf format and is 319 pages, or over 5mb in size.
https://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3343,en_17642234_17642806_38876369_1_1_1_1,00.html**********************
CENSORSHIP
**********************
Web censorship is failing, says Chinese official
The internet and mobile phones have undermined attempts by China’s secretive rulers to control the news, a senior Communist party official admitted today. He accused local governments of being “too naive” by continuing to suppress damaging information about corruption or about disasters, and urged party members to be more open with members of the public. Wang Guoqing, a vice minister with the cabinet’s information office said: “It has been repeatedly proved that information blocking is like walking into a dead end.”
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2086419.eceChina clamps down on teenage Internet gaming (AP)
The Chinese government has launched a campaign to clamp down on underaged Internet gaming, requiring operators to install software that discourages teenage players from spending more than three hours online.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559793511.htmlhttp://iht.com/articles/2007/07/17/business/chinet.phphttp://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001971http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_6396389http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/17/financial/f121659D42.DTLChinese Internet censors blamed for email chaos (Reuters)
Internet users and company officials in China on Wednesday blamed a series of disruptions to cross-border email traffic on adjustments to the country's vast Internet surveillance system.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKPEK9185520070718Should Germany Republish 'Mein Kampf'?
A leading historian wants 'Mein Kampf' to be republished in Germany. Copyright issues have kept it off the shelves since World War II, but in 2015 it will enter the public
domain. Then, anyone will be allowed to print it -- including neo-Nazis.
...
Contrary to popular belief, the book is not actually banned in Germany. Instead, the copyright is held by the state of Bavaria, which took over the rights of the main Nazi party publishing house Eher-Verlag -- including the rights for "Mein Kampf" -- after the end of World War II as part of the Allies' de-Nazification program. As copyright holder, the state has since refused to allow the book to be published, on the grounds that it would promote right-wing extremism. The German Foreign Ministry has also repeatedly recommended that the book not be published, for fear of damaging Germany's image abroad.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,494891,00.html************************************************
CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT
REGULATION
************************************************
us: A Debate on Child Pornography’s Link to Molesting
Experts have often wondered what proportion of men who download explicit sexual images of children also molest them. A new government study of convicted Internet offenders suggests that the number may be startlingly high: 85 percent of the offenders said they had committed acts of sexual abuse against minors, from inappropriate touching to rape.
http://nytimes.com/2007/07/19/us/19sex.htmlau: Mobile scheme failing teens
The federal Government has conceded that its regulatory scheme governing premium mobile content providers had not met community expectations. At a telecommunications conference yesterday, Senator Helen Coonan said that premium mobile content providers would face tougher regulations following a review of the co-regulatory scheme governing
the industry scheduled to go ahead in October.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22094068-16123,00.htmlhttp://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,22094481-3122,00.htmlhttp://arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1680680976;fp;2;fpid;1au: Dark cloud with silver lining
Police Life’s Sarah Campbell visited the squad that is detangling the world wide web of crime. Shocking the nation in October 2004 was news of Australian police agencies running Operation Auxin, an investigation into a world-wide online child pornography ring. Hundreds of Australians were investigated for child sex offences, many who had daily access to
children, unveiling the nation’s biggest police campaign against child pornography.
http://police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=116648 nations plot ways to combat child porn
EXPERTS from eight countries, including the Philippines, yesterday opened a four-day special training on how to combat child pornography and exploitation of children through the Internet.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics4_july17_2007us: Kids face real dangers on Internet
... Far from just another scare-of-the-month, a recent University of New Hampshire study funded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that more young people are exposed to unwanted sexual material and online harassment now than five years ago. The study also
found that 4 percent of the youths, age 10 to 17, surveyed in the study, said that in the past, someone made or had attempted to make a sexual solicitation with them via phone, regular mail or in person.
http://sacbee.com/101/story/274798.htmlus: Limiting Ads of Junk Food to Children
Trix are no longer for kids — at least not on children’s television shows. But Cocoa Puffs are another matter. Trying to persuade critics the industry does not need government regulation, 11 big food companies, including McDonald’s, Campbell Soup and PepsiCo, have agreed to stop advertising to children under 12 products that do not meet certain nutritional standards. Some of the companies, like Coca-Cola, have already withdrawn all such commercials or are in the process of doing so. Others, like General Mills, said they would withdraw them over the next year or so, while a handful agreed to expand
their self-imposed bans to radio, print and Internet advertising.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/business/18food.htmlAre kids playing it safe online?
perspective: Some people believe teenagers are reckless about the way they protect their private information on the Internet. Others counter that teens are Net-savvy and are at least as smart as adults when it comes to safeguarding themselves in cyberspace. So, what is the truth?
http://news.com.com/2010-1032_3-6197209.htmlus: Wi-fi makes tracking kid porn tougher (UPI)
U.S. investigators say the proliferation of wireless access to the Internet has made tracking child pornography traders more difficult.
http://upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/07/17/wifi_makes_tracking_kid_porn_tougher/2689/http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/172758.htmlhttp://politicom.moldova.org/stiri/eng/57767/Czech Senate against punishment of all owners of child porn
The Senate agreed today that only people who produce or sell child porn or who make it available should be punished, but not those who just own it as such a measure could be easily misused for provocations.
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=262650"She Used to Be Pretty" - The wounds cyberbullies cause can run
deep.
She was a little big for her age, her face still chubby and prepubescent. She pulled me aside after the cyberbullying workshop I'd just given to a room full of twenty middle school girls. She looked as though she were hiding something. "Would you help me get my MySpace page shut down?" she asked.
http://www.edutopia.org/she-used-to-be-pretty***************************************
CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
***************************************
Google yields to privacy campaign
Google is to begin deleting private information it stores on the computers of millions of users, Google announced. The company currently stores cookies - small pieces of information which help identify users - on computers for more than 30 years.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2128398,00.htmlhttp://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2093752.eceGoogle cookies will 'auto delete' after 2 years
Google has said that its cookies will auto delete after two years. They will be deleted unless the user returns to a Google site within the two-year period, prompting a re-setting of the file's lifespan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6901946.stmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559746220.htmlhttp://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559749088.htmlGoogle's cookie cut may not be enough for EU
EU data watchdog has welcomed Google's announcement of a two-year cookie lifespan but says its major concern is server log data use
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39288097,00.htmhttp://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-6197397.htmlau: Vanishing up each other's google by Alan Kohler
If you google the phrase "Alan Kohler", the top link in the main, unpaid search results is one of my articles on smh.com.au. Next is Eureka Report. But above that, against a beige background, there are two other links - one is to Eureka Report and the other is a link to Australian
Stock Report, one of our competitors.
... In essence the ACCC claims two things: a business's competitors should not be allowed to "buy" its name and muscle into its search results page; and the "sponsored links" are not sufficiently distinguished from the main, unpaid, results in the middle of the page. The ACCC is not saying this, but I think it would accept a settlement based on the latter point, and not press on the first. In other words, Google could probably end the case with more prominent signage on its sponsored links.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559788867.htmlau: All eyes on ACCC
THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission action against Google and Telstra's classified advertising business, Trading Post, will be watched intently by other players in the $22 billion online search marketing sector. At the very least,
rivals will be hoping for insight into the business model that has boosted Google to a $US162 billion ($185 billion) Goliath, largely through sponsored advertisements tied to search results.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22084061-15306,00.htmlLack of concern over growing cybercrime angers UK businesses
British industry leaders have called for urgent government intervention over the failure to deal with escalating online crime. The UK's largest corporations are being told to report multimillion pound international cybercrime incidents to their local police stations.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2129114,00.htmlOECD governments to help consumers
OECD Member countries have agreed common
principles aimed at providing consumers with effective mechanisms to resolve their disputes and obtain redress for economic harm resulting from transactions with business. The new framework, which applies to disputes arising in both a domestic and cross-border context, is aimed at strengthening consumer trust on-line and at helping them benefit from e-commerce advantages.
http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3343,en_2649_37441_38960053_1_1_1_37441,00.html30 countries move to protect online consumers
Spurred to find ways to protect consumers as online shopping grows, the 30 countries belonging to the international economic and social-development group Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) announced Monday an accord on dispute resolution.
After two years of wrangling over the policy document, the Paris-based OECD
said its 30 members -- which include the European countries, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom among others -- have signed off on a legal framework intended to lead to better policing and resolution of consumer complaints, particularly in cross-border disputes involving e-commerce.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;379697135;fp;2;fpid;1http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/13544/53/au: New online link to plotters
Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef was in frequent and extensive contact with two men at the centre of Britain's car-bomb plot on the eve of their failed terror attacks.
The Australian understands online communication between Dr Haneef and the bomb plotters was prolific and that authorities have
gathered significantly more evidence against him than has been disclosed publicly.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22085312-5006786,00.htmlItaly arrests 26 for phishing operation
Countries around the world are clamping down on phishing as the number of Web sites used to entrap victims continues to increase
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/16/Italy-arrests-26-for-phishing_1.htmlhttp://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001515Bots Driving Click Fraud
Bot nets are driving up click fraud, according to Click Forensics, a click auditing company. "This is a
growing problem for the industry and one that's getting worse and not better," said Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics, Inc. The company's findings are based on data from its Click Fraud Network, which attempts to identify and track pay-per-click advertising fraud across over 4,000 online advertisers and ad agencies.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201002161uk: Unruly Oxford students' Facebook search
Students at Oxford University are being warned that university authorities are using the Facebook website to gain evidence about unruly post-exam pranks.
The student union has urged students to tighten their security settings on the social networking website, to stop dons viewing their details.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6902333.stmhttp://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2087306.ecehttp://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001822uk: Your boss could own your Facebook profile
Employers could have grounds to demand ownership of employees' social networking profiles, such as those generated on Facebook, MySpace or Bebo, according to a leading intellectual property lawyer.
http://out-law.com/page-8284http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/16/social_networking_profiles_company_property/Second Life gets its first copyright law suit
A dispute over a sex bed has become the first copyright law suit within online alternative reality game Second Life. The lawyer behind the suit told weekly podcast OUT-LAW Radio that the nature of the game should not change the issues at stake.
http://out-law.com/page-8297Internet Wiretaps Prohibited... For Now
In an unusual decision the Court granted the motion of civil rights organizations to rehear a case, pertaining to the wiretapping of e-mail messages. The Federal Court of Appeals of the First Circuit decided on October 5, 2004 to rehear the US v. Councilman case, which had been decided by the same Court on June 29, 2004. In this decision, the
Court ruled that Internet service providers did not violate the Wiretap Act by monitoring the content of users’ e-mail messages without their permission. The Court vacated the decision pending the rehearing of the case.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1806Cross-browser Firefox/IE flaw worsens
The browser flaw which allows attackers to hijack a computer by using Internet Explorer to launch Firefox is affecting other applications as well.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2194362/cross-browser-flaw-expandsWhole Foods CEO sorry for anonymous Web posts (Reuters)
The chief executive of Whole Foods Market apologized to shareholders on Tuesday for anonymously posting comments
about his company on the Internet as the organic and natural foods grocer said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had launched a probe into the matter.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6197260.htmlus: FBI remotely installs spyware to trace bomb threat
The FBI used a novel type of remotely installed spyware last month to investigate who was e-mailing bomb threats to a high school near Olympia, Wash.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6197405.htmlGerman police excuse angry computer user for outburst (Reuters)
A German man who startled his neighbors when he hurled his computer out of the window in the middle of the night was let off charges of disturbing the peace by police who sympathized with his technical frustrations.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9027278http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/18/computer_chucking_german/**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
**************************
au: Electronic voting to debut this election
This year's federal election will be the first to engage electronic voting when blind or vision impaired people will be able to vote at 29 locations across Australia.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;33270907;fp;2;fpid;1http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/E-voting-comes-to-Australia-/0,130061702,339280111,00.htmMedia activists concerned over new Thai cyber law (AFP)
Thai police will be able to seize computers from homes and businesses under a new cyber-crime law that came into force Wednesday, which authorities say will help crack down on Internet pornography.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559885367.htmlhttp://metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070718-051927-4034reu: Commission consults public on tougher ICT-trade strategy (news release)
With a public consultation open until September, the Commission seeks to
capture stakeholder views on market access and on regulatory issues, in order to boost the international standing of the European ICT industry.
http://euractiv.com/en/infosociety/commission-consults-public-tougher-ict-trade-strategy/article-165591Internet Radio Gets Fee Break in Compromise Talks
As the July 15 deadline for new Internet radio royalty rates to take effect sailed by in relative peace, most Internet radio webcasters remained up and running following initial results of compromise talks late last week between webcasters and SoundExchange. Most recently, SoundExchange, the arm of the Recording Industry Association of America that collects the royalties, confirmed on Friday that it had offered to cap the $500 per-channel minimum fee stations must pay at $50,000 per year.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/58343.htmlhttp://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-radiowebjul17,1,4328977.storyhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/14/1183833812467.htmlWeb radio stations win a last-minute stay of execution
Wired's indispensable digital-music maven Eliot Van Buskirk reports some good breaking news: Internet radio stations will not shut down this Sunday. Many Web radio outfits feared closure as their legal fight against staggering new music royalty rates met failure this week. On Thursday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block the new rates, which are scheduled to go into effect Sunday. But as a result of public outcry -- which, in turn, sparked
congressional outcry -- SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that collects royalties, has agreed not to immediately enforce the rates, pending negotiations with webcasters.
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/13/internet_radio/index.htmlau: Video effort is down the tube
Internet users have mocked John Howard's move to announce climate policy on YouTube, blasting the Prime Minister on a feedback site as out-of-touch and behind the times.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22093489-11949,00.htmlau: Johnny-too-late is fair game for net users
ANALYSIS: THE tech and age chasm between John Howard and Kevin Rudd has been highlighted by one user-generated video. The Prime Minister's first policy announcement
made via the internet, and instigated at his own suggestion, attracted a litany of mocking abuse and scepticism yesterday.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22093488-11949,00.htmlau: Howard hip to web, 10 years after
John Howard's foray on to video-sharing website YouTube comes almost a decade after the youth wing of his own political party went online.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22096707-11949,00.htmlau: Libs give MySpace a wide berth
The Liberals appear to be snubbing MySpace, after the network publicly criticised the party's response to its new channel.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559752657.htmlau: Howard clip becomes spam magnet
The Prime Minister's first video foray into social networking has yielded a barrage of spam and abuse.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/18/1184559838528.htmlnp: Online journalists to get press pass
Online news portals are soon going to get government recognition as media with the government assuring to issue press pass to journalists working in such portals.
http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=74194**********************
INTERNET USE
**********************
Global broadband prices revealed
Broadband users in 30 of the world's most developed
countries are getting greatly differing speeds and prices, according to a report by the OECD. The OECD report says 60% of its member countries net users are now on broadband.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6900697.stmau: Low on speed, high on cost
Australia has the second-slowest broadband speed in the developed world, according to the latest international comparison by the OECD. Australia lagged behind Turkey and Greece, and only just pipped the Slovak Republic.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22079412-16123,00.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559780884.htmlAustralian broadband among world's
worst: OECD
The OECD has passed judgement on Australia's broadband in a study calling it among the slowest and most expensive in the world, however, Communications Minister Helen Coonan claims it was a "strong report card" for the nation's infrastructure.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Australian-broadband-among-world-s-worst-OECD/0,130061791,339280104,00.htmau: Upload surge increases net costs
THE decision of Optus last week that requires some customers to count data uploads as part of their internet use could signal the end of free uploads.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22084033-15306,00.htmlSingapore among region's heaviest Web
users
A study of Internet behaviour in the Asia-Pacific region revealed that Singaporeans spent more time and viewed more pages than the regional average. Netizens from the Republic, on average, visited the Internet 15.5 days a month and spent 25.7 hours viewing 2,406 pages, compared to the regional figures of 13.8 days, 20.2 hours and 2,171 pages.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/287259/1/.htmlIndia may miss broadband subscriber target: study
The target of bringing broadband connectivity to India's remote hinterland that will take its subscriber base to 20 million by 2010 may not be achieved, says a study carried out by an industry body.
http://siliconindia.com/shownews/36464Chinese Internet Population Reaches Higher
The
latest report from the China Internet Network Information Center shows that as of June 30, 2007, there were 162 million Internet users in China, which made the country rank second in the world next to the United States in terms of Internet population. ... The report shows that about 44 million Chinese users use mobile phones to surf online, which was 2.6 times higher than last year. In addition, .CN domain name websites reached 810,000, increasing by 137.5%, and the number of .CN websites exceeded that of .COM for the first time.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/07/19/5652-chinese-internet-population-reaches-higher/http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1708/1/Jordan internet woes
Jordan's internet penetration, particularly
broadband, is woefully low. Fastlink's Mahmoud Abu Zannad looks at why, and what needs to be done to get more Jordanians connected.
http://www.ameinfo.com/126947.htmlPorn on YouTube alerts South Korean portals
ISPs are raising a red flag over self-recorded sexual video clips on YouTube that they claim could become part of local video-sharing services once its Korean language service opens as early as next month.
http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=74176nz: Teacher who posted porn photos not teaching now - Maharey
A teacher who posted pornographic pictures of himself and two women on internet sex sites no longer holds a practising certificate and is not employed at any school, Parliament was told today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10452408us: Newspaper auditor to count Web readers
The main U.S. newspaper auditing group said Tuesday that it would begin tallying online readership as well as print-edition circulation in a boost to an industry where advertising sales have suffered from a migration of readers to the Web.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-readers18jul18,1,5515473.storyTVs and computers breeding generation of 'screen kids'
TVs and computers are the "electronic babysitters" for a generation of children who are losing out on family life and becoming more materialistic, a report says today. The study paints a picture of a breed of "screen kids" who are spending more and more time watching TV
and surfing the net in their bedrooms, unsupervised by adults.
The Watching, Wanting and Wellbeing report from the National Consumer Council found nearly half the children from better-off families surveyed had televisions in their bedrooms, compared with 97% of the nine- to 13-year-olds from less well-off areas.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2127268,00.htmlHow we've become hooked on the net
The internet has usurped TV as the drug-of-choice among media users, with consequences: Technology addictive. The internet, doubly so. "You want a fix, and you get a fix from it," says Professor Jeffrey Cole, of the University of Southern California. "There is an addiction to always checking your email, to always checking what's happening on MySpace or Facebook. It has become, for its users, an essential part of life."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/16/1184559704099.htmlhttp://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/07/16/1184559704099.htmlBlackmail claim stirs fears over Facebook
By the standards of today's reveal-all culture, the photographs were not particularly shocking. They were more Benny Hill than pornographic.
...
But the case has left behind some big questions about how teenagers are storing up problems for themselves in later life by exposing themselves - emotionally and in many cases physically - on the internet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2127273,00.htmlGoogle Loses Search Share, Microsoft Gains
The overall volume of U.S. search queries reached 8
billion in June, up 6% from May and 26% from June 2006, according to comScore.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001691http://www.ft.com/cms/s/04b6b96c-33cc-11dc-9887-0000779fd2ac.htmlcomScore Releases June U.S. Search Engine Rankings (news release)
comScore released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of activity across competitive search engines. In June 2007, Google Sites maintained its spot atop the rankings with 49.5 percent of the U.S. search market. Yahoo! Sites captured second place with 25.1 percent of U.S. searches, followed by Microsoft Sites (13.2 percent), Ask Network (5.0 percent) and Time Warner Network (4.2 percent).
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1525us: comScore Media Metrix Releases Top 50 Web Rankings for June: School Vacation Spurs Traffic Increase to Online Gaming Sites;
comScore Media Metrix released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for June 2007. The month saw traffic increase to gaming sites as schools let out for summer and gambling sites in anticipation of the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP). June also saw gains for entertainment news sites with the buzz about Paris Hilton’s jail sentence, hotels/resorts sites with the summer travel season swinging into high gear, and gay/lesbian sites with the celebration of Pride Month.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1528Firefox gains at Microsoft's expense
Mozilla's web
browser, Firefox, is becoming increasingly popular, gaining on average an extra 3.1 percent of the market in 32 European countries in the past four months, according to French web-monitoring company XiTi Monitor.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39288052,00.htmActive Home Internet Users by Country, May 2007
The number of active Internet home users increased 0.06 percent in May for the 10 countries tracked by Nielsen//NetRatings. Brazil (13.01 percent); France (7.67 percent); and Spain (7.26 percent) supported the highest percentage increase in active users over April users. Australia registered a drop in active users (1.95 percent) between April and May.
http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626460**********************
NEW
TECHNOLOGIES
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Global PC Shipments Up 12 Percent in 2Q
Worldwide shipments of personal computers rose strongly in the second quarter due to growing demand in Asia and unexpected strength in the U.S., two research companies reported Wednesday.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559904953.html**********************
SPAM
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Sophos names and shames the top spam relaying countries
Sophos today released its global statistics naming and shaming the Dirty Dozen spam relaying countries with the United States and China sharing the number one position from April to June 2007. Australia maintained its customarily low position, taking 32nd place in the league table, with less than one percent of the world's spam originating here. New Zealand ranked even lower in 58th position.
http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1529124582;fp;2;fpid;1Sophos reveals "dirty dozen" spam-relaying countries (news release)
Sophos published its latest report on the top twelve spam-relaying countries over the second quarter of 2007. Experts at SophosLabs scanned all spam messages received in the company's global network of spam traps, and have revealed that the US continues to relay more spam than any other nation, accounting for 19.6 percent - a decrease of just 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. However, Europe now has six entries in the dirty dozen, which when combined, account for even more spam-relaying than the US.
http://sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/07/dirtydozjul07.htmlConfessions of a former spammer
Retired
spammer reveals his tricks of the trade and projects the spam business will only get worse: "Ed," a retired spammer, built a considerable fortune sending e-mails that promoted pills, porn, and casinos. At the peak of his power, Ed says he pulled in $10,000 to $15,000 a week, storing the money in $20 bills in stacks of boxes.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/18/Former-spammer_1.htmlhttp://www.pcworld.com/article/id,134721-c,spam/article.htmlus: FBI, military names being used in e-mail scams
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is warning of fraudulent e-mails that appear to come from the FBI and U.S. military.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/17/FBI-and-military-names-being-used-in-email-scams_1.htmlAn increase in internet schemes purportedly from the FBI (news release)
The IC3 has increasingly received intelligence of fraudulent schemes misrepresenting the FBI and/or Director Robert S. Mueller III. The fraudulent e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy due to the usage of pictures of the FBI Director, seal, letter head, and/or banners. The types of schemes utilizing the Director's name and/or FBI are lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications.
http://ic3.gov/media/2007/070717-2.htm**********************
FILE SHARING
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EU File Sharers Protected in Civil Cases
Copyright groups may not be able to demand that telecom
companies hand over the names and addresses of people suspected of swapping music illegally online, a senior legal adviser to the EU's highest court said.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559896428.htmlhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL1837105420070718http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/18/ap3927736.htmluk: Back in the groove: young music fans ditch downloads and spark vinyl revival
The format was supposed to have been badly wounded by the introduction of CDs and killed off completely by the ipod-generation that bought music online.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2127350,00.htmlThe full, final "Harry Potter" -- leaked online!
Photographs of each page of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" make it to file-sharing sites on the Web.
http://www.salon.com/tech/machinist/blog/2007/07/17/potter_leaked/index.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/18/1184559825094.htmlhttp://www.latimes.com/technology/la-et-potter18jul18,1,1318863.story*********************************
COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
*********************************
Google
Offers to Run Site Search Engines (AP)
Google Inc. is offering to run the search engines of small Web sites for as little as US$100 per year, marking the company's latest attempt to make more money off technology that already steers much of the Internet's traffic
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644083,00.htmlThe Future of Facebook
In his first interview with TIME, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat down with reporter Laura Locke to talk about Facebook's rapid growth spurt, IPO rumors, future plans and the pressures of being a 23-year-old CEO in Silicon Valley.
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644040,00.htmlEU court to rule on Microsoft on Sept. 17 (Reuters)
A European court confirmed on Tuesday
that it will rule on September 17 on whether software giant Microsoft broke European Union antitrust regulations.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6197070.htmlMicrosoft faces renewed EU scrutiny on Word, Excel dominance
European regulators have sent a second questionnaire to rivals of Microsoft asking them for additional details on how the company may crimp competition by withholding technical data on Word and Excel, three people with direct knowledge of the case said Wednesday.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/07/18/business/msft.php**********************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
**********************
NZ's wealthy telcos stingy on investment
New Zealand is lagging behind when it comes to investing in telecommunications, even though it makes more from the
sector than other developed countries, a new report shows.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10452483http://stuff.co.nz/4132421a13.htmlus: Freeing the iPhone the legal way
Lawmakers and consumer advocates push for rules to block wireless firms from locking gadgets and charging high cancellation fees.
http://www.salon.com/tech/machinist/feature/2007/07/18/cell_service_contracts/index.htmlWhite Paper on the ITU Process for 4G
3G Americas today published a new white paper entitled Defining 4G: Understanding the ITU Process for the Next Generation of Wireless Technology. The white paper
provides the factual description of how IMT-Advanced or 4G will someday be defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). ITU is the internationally recognized authority that will produce the official definition of the next generation of wireless technologies beyond IMT-2000 or 3G.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/July2007/4926.htmITU demands 'Marshall Plan' for Africa's internet connectivity
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has demanded a 'Marshall Plan' to help Africa catch up in infrastructure and internet connectivity.
http://telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=18687**********************
MOBILE
**********************
4G wireless - the hype demystified
If anyone tells you today they have 4G wireless, it's marketing
hype. 4G has yet to be defined yet alone realised, but the ITU is getting close to a definition and this white paper from 3G Americas provides a useful summary of the progress and plans going forward.
http://itwire.com.au/content/view/13543/1095/London gets free Wi-Fi
A free metropolitan Wi-Fi network has been launched in London, continuing the gradual trend toward free public wireless Internet access in Europe and the United States.
http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-6196772.htmlEU backs standard for mobile TV
The EU's decision to back a single standard for TV on mobiles could see the UK fall behind, warn analysts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6902541.stmForerunner of mobile Internet, i-mode is fading in Europe
The British unit of O2 and Telstra announced plans to drop their i-mode services because too few customers are using it.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/07/17/business/imode.php**********************
VoIP
**********************
us: Does SunRocket's Shutdown Signal a VoIP Shakeout?
The second-largest independent VoIP carrer's demise could leave many potential VOIP customers wary of doing business with other providers, only to have service vanish on them as well.
http://networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=201002090VoIP security vulnerabilities
tackled by researchers
Security threats to voice over IP (VoIP) are one of the major factors that deter numerous IT departments from implementing a VoIP system. But in the fight against denial of service (DoS) attacks, buffer overflow attacks, and hackers there are companies that are prepared to find those hidden vulnerabilities.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/07/18/225621/voip-security-vulnerabilities-tackled-by-researchers.htm**********************************
ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
**********************************
uk: Net paedophile jailed for life
A Derbyshire paedophile was last Friday jailed for raping the two-year-old daughter of a woman he met online, the Derby Evening Telegraph reports.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/16/double_life_sentence/au: Child porn accused takes own life
A 63-year-old man has killed himself after being called to appear at a Sydney court to face charges related to uploading child pornography on to the internet. The body of David Woodward Lee was found at his Winmalee home, in the NSW Blue Mountains, hours after a warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to attend Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court yesterday.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22093480-5006784,00.htmlau: Power jailed over child porn
DISGRACED former deputy senior crown prosecutor Patrick Power was finally jailed today after his appeal against his sentence for possessing child pornography failed. Power, 55, was taken into
custody for the first time since pleading guilty in January after about 29,000 explicit images - including more than 400 involving children - were found on his computer.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22098246-5001021,00.htmlau: Power's child porn jail sentence reduced
FORMER NSW deputy senior crown prosecutor Patrick Power has had his jail term for a child pornography offence reduced on appeal.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22098248-1242,00.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559921105.htmlnz: Woman attacks boarder after finding child porn
A boarder was assaulted after the
householder found he had been looking at child pornography online.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4131122a12855.htmlus: 'Library of Congress' of child porn uncovered (AP)
The police said yesterday that they found 150,000 images of child pornography in a Raymond man's home, perhaps the largest case of its kind they have ever seen.
http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070718/REPOSITORY/707180383http://nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070718/NEWS02/207180329+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news, including an RSS feed - already online!The domain name news is supported by auDA.
For information on subscriptions to the domain name and/or general internet news please contact me. For archives of postings to the list, see http://lists.technewsreview.com.au/pipermail/technewsreview/. Also see http://technewsreview.com.au/ for recent updates.Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(c) David Goldstein
2007
